Thomas Tuchel says Chelsea will be without four players for their game with Leeds United this weekend and he has major concerns about N’Golo Kante.
The France international hasn’t played since Chelsea’s 4-0 victory over Juventus in the UEFA Champions League on November 23 in a match that saw him pick up a knee injury.
Tuchel is hopeful the midfielder returns to training next week but is also concerned about how his team will cope without Kante’s ‘unique’ talent.
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‘We are always worried when we have to live and play without N’Golo because he is an exceptional and unique player all over the world,’ he said.
‘In my personal opinion you cannot find a second N’Golo so of course we are worried, but I’m also worried if he’s just missing some days.
‘Now it is a slightly too long break again and we hope that he comes back to team training on Tuesday.’
The German manager also confirmed he’ll be without Trevoh Chalobah and Ben Chilwell through injuries, while Kovacic isn’t available for selection after testing positive for Covid-19.
‘Trevoh Chalobah is still out, Kovacic is obviously out, N’Golo Kante out for tomorrow and Ben Chilwell too,’ he added. ‘Jorginho did the last two training sessions and will do what he did the last game, play through pain.
‘Everybody at the moment is healthy apart from Mateo Kovacic. We were tested when we arrived from Russia [after playing Zenit St Petersburg in the Champions League].
‘This is sometimes not the nicest thing to do but I was impressed with the patience in the middle of the night for the PCR tests to be taken.
‘Everybody is aware of the situation, it is not a joke. It is real.’
